Four Women who won the Nobel Prize for Literature

Of the 119 Nobel prizes for literature that have been given between 1900 and 2022 only 17 have been given to women .  We will be reading four women who wrote in English:  NADINE GORDIMER 1991, TONI MORRISON 1993,  DORIS LESSING  2007, and ALICE MUNRO 2013.  

Together their lives  and work stretch over a century.  Their styles are different but their writings reflect the time and place they come from.  Each of these brilliant women wrote insightful fiction about people's lives, family issues, problems, joys, life and death.  Whether the characters live in China, London, South Africa or Ohio--their issues are about staying alive through relationships, wars and drought that change their lives.

In 1991, Nadine Gordimer won the Nobel Prize in Literature for her writing of numerous  books and stories about life in South Africa in her beautiful poetic language.   

In 1993 Toni Morrison became the first African American to win the Nobel for her novels about the black experience in America.

Doris Lessing wrote bluntly and brilliantly all her long life about women's lives and their relationships with men  but did not win the Nobel until she was 88 in 2007. 

Canadian Alice Munro has also continuously presented the twists and turns of girls' and women's lives throughout the social changes of the 20th century.  She developed her own thoughtful rendition of the long, short story for which she received the Nobel Prize in 2013.

Why the West Rules for Now: Updated

In 2010, Ian Morris published his highly acclaimed study, Why the West Rules for Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Tell Us About the Future. As his title suggests, Morris both looks backwards to explain the reasons for the West’s dominance in the 20th century, but also looks forward as to whether China will end that dominance in the 21st century.

Morris argues that the answer to the West’s superiority lies not in any cultural or racial superiority, but in how it was able to shape its physical, economic, social and intellectual environments. He first considers biological and sociological factors which he believes tend to be common to both East and West, and then turns to geographical differences over time. He analyzes how these factors have affected the East and West since the end of the great ice age around 15,000 years ago and how they may affect both the West and the rising powers of Asia in the future.

Critics have commented on Morris’ keen research and insightful arguments, looking back at fifteen thousand years of history and bringing together the latest findings across disciplines—from archeology and ancient history to information technology and neuroscience. However, his work is not without critics, particularly of his neglect of cultural and racial factors. Our SDG promises to be informative, thought-provoking and even controversial. Toward the end of our SDG, we will also consider how Morris’s analysis and predictions have worn after thirteen years.

The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union in Seven Crime Novels

In a society where truth is hidden, a good place to search is works of fiction.  This SDG covers the history for the Soviet Union from "The Holy Thief" set in 1936 Stalinist Russia, to "Snowdrops" set in the Go-Go Moscow of the early 2000's.  Through these seven crime novels we can see the reflection of Soviet law and life in the 20th century.

Evolution Continues: A Human-Computer Partnership

Human evolution has always been driven by our tools, and computer technology is the most impactful tool humans have ever invented. Today, digital technology drives everything from PCs to mobile phones, from thermostats to automobiles. We search the Web for a wide variety of information, entertainment, and services. Rapidly growing computer power drives breakthrough technology such as Artificial Intelligence, with more to come.

That increasing power has created a resulting trend of connecting with computers using human language--"talking to computers"--with smartphone "personal assistants" leading this trend. This conversational connection to growing computer power will accelerate a human-computer partnership that could even impact what it means to be human. This SDG examines the full impact of these trends, including computers essentially becoming workers supporting a growing population beyond retirement age.